Bay Area Small Moves Specialists

Thank goodness for Jaime.
I purchased a couch from Craigslist this past Saturday, and when the prior owner suggested that I should probably take it away that same day, I found myself in a panic. I don’t have a truck; I’m new to the area and don’t know how to rent a truck; and I can barely drive a car, let alone a truck. So, I scrambled to find movers that could help me with such short notice.
I scoured Unilocal and called a few places, most of whom told me I’d have to wait until the late afternoon/​evening (when traffic is the worst…) and that the fee would be upwards of $ 400. Then, I stumbled across Bay Area Small Moves Specialists. I called Jaime, who said he would drop what he was doing (I think he was out with his family) and drive from the Mission all the way to Kentfield to pick up the couch right then and there.
He didn’t have has moving truck on him, but he was able to get the couch into his pickup. He also didn’t have a crew handy with such short notice, but with the prior owner’s assistance on the pickup side and my help on the delivery side, we got it done very quickly and easily. The couch did get a little dirt on it in transit, but I think I’ll be able to clean it up — and I knew I couldn’t expect perfection given that I asked him to do the move right away when he had none of his usual crew or supplies.
The cost was extremely reasonable — to pick up a 96″ couch from Kentfield and deliver it basically to Daly City, Jaime charged me $ 150 ($ 140 plus tolls).

Jaime helped me get a couch from CL with very short notice. The couch was bigger than the given measurements and wouldn’t make it through the door so Jaime took the door frame off and got the couch inside.
I highly recommend hiring Jaime to help you!
He was professional, friendly, punctual, reliable and affordable.

I needed a quick response small local move, relocating my son’s old bed set from San Francisco to Alameda. I called Delancey Street first, who informed me the move was too small for them and recommended these guys. I called on Tuesday for a Friday move, got them on the phone, explained the move and also asked if they could dispose of my old bed. He told me that he would have to research disposal fees at his computer and said he would call me back shortly. He never called back, and did not answer the phone or my phone messages (probably 6).
I can understand perhaps not wanting to do the particular job, his right, but I cannot understand the lack of courtesy in not calling back when he had committed to do so. So I found another mover.
He eventually did call me back after the fact, probably in response to my review, and appologized, sort of. He had a story about not having my number on his cell phone, etc. That, after the fact, didn’t work well for me.

If you’ve had a good experience with Jaime, then lucky you.
My experience was pretty much a run-​around. I called Jaime about a month in advance to book time to move some boxes into storage. I didn’t think the job would take more than one guy, or more than two hours.
When I contacted Jaime by phone, he didn’t ask for any information to save for future reference. I asked his hourly rate and he said $ 40 for one guy to do the job. He told me to call back three days before I wanted to do the move and we’d set it up then.
Three days seemed a little last minute to confirm to me, since he hadn’t taken my name, number or other particulars, I figured it’d be easy to forget.
I called him a week prior to my move date and indeed, he had no idea who he was speaking with. He seemed put off by the fact that my building has stairs, even though he’d never asked about them previously, and he seemed like he regretted giving me an hourly rate quote of $ 40.
He asked me to email my move information to him, which I did. Two days later, after receiving no acknowledgment of my email, I called to see if he had received it. He said, yah, he had, but he was waiting to hear from other people who’d scheduled jobs ahead of me but had not yet confirmed times. Really?
Never mind that I’d tried to book him a month ago and he’d not even taken my name & number. I get that it was a small job and he wanted to squeeze it in, but jeez, he just gave off the creepy vibes of flake. I had the unshakeable feeling he was stringing me along and was not going to book me after all, or wouldn’t show up when expected if he did. He told me he would call the next day to confirm the move.
Surprise, Jaime did not call or email all the next day. The following morning I looked on Craigslist and found a guy offering a flat rate per truckload to move. I called him, he called back within ten minutes and the job was booked and I stopped being stressed out. I will write a separate review for this guy, who did a great job.
Two days after he was scheduled to contact me, Jaime emailed, then called in the late afternoon to offer me a moving time the next morning.
I emailed him back and told him I had booked the job with someone else the day after he neglected to email, because he just seemed too unreliable.
I can’t review Jaime’s professionalism once he is on the job, I can only speak for his booking/​management skills, which were lacking. If you are the type who can wing it, don’t have a tight schedule, or take your chances with last minute arrangements, maybe he is the guy for you.

I was happy to give him a chance to get some business from me, but (like CL’s review below) the phone number is (again) out of service. There are reviews within the last couple of weeks, but if you can’t reach someone, it’s hard to do business with them. Sorry Jaime.

Found Jaime on craigslist in July 2009 to help us move a couch and a chair with an ottoman. He was on time, very professional, inexpensive and even taught my husband a quicker way to get to our place. We’d definitely use him again.
He was very prompt — he met my husband over at the place we were picking up the furniture from which was nice because he didn’t have to wait around.
The set up is basically that he’ll help you move something/​stuff for those of us that don’t have a truck. For our move he used a small (not full size) pickup. When we called to set it up he was really friendly and asked a bunch of questions about what pieces we were moving, from where to where, how many flights of stairs, etc etc before quoting a price for us (which was nice, because there were no surprises when we paid him).

Is 1000 stars an option?
Jamie is the best! I called him w/​6 hours notice to pick up a desk I found on craigslist. He was busy but squeezed me in. Jamie & Jorge (who’s middle name must be Hercules) showed up right on the dot. We got the desk to my house and it fit through the door but not the tight They could have ditched it in the garage INSTEAD Jamie got out a drill and disassembled it, took it in the house and whipped it back together.
The words trustworthy, punctual & a bargain don’t say enough.

Jaime’s helped me twice now. The first time was a NIGHTMARE — this idiot woman said it would be no problem taking her bed frame down a flight of stairs, but it turned out it didn’t fit & it took five of us and Jaime taking a door off a frame & dismantling most of the bed frame just to get the damn thing out of her apartment. He reassembled on the sidewalk and zipped it over to my place.
This time, the seller was half an hour late, but Jaime hung out and chatted with me until she finally showed up.
He’s friendly, trustworthy, strong, reliable & has totally reasonable rates. I don’t know what more you could ask for.

I found a bargain on craigslist getting a great mover and a delivery without leaving my home for $ 30. (Delivery was for 1 heavy headboard in San Francisco; From Twin Peaks to Marina districts)
I ended up scoring a large headboard & Jaime (pronounced Himay) both on Craigslist. The headboard was huge so I needed a truck to pick it up. I felt comfortable in calling Jamie after reading the reviews here on Unilocal,so I gave him a call and he asked my budget and after pausing to see if was even worth the gas, he said…“ok, let’s do it”. His first move that Sunday was going to take 2 hours longer pushing my pickup time 2-​hours later, but he notified me early that morning, so I had time to notify the seller. I was flexible. He then offered to pick up the headboard (by himself) in twin peaks SF, pay the seller, then drop it off at my place in the Marina SF. I couldn’t ask for more and I got a great deal! I will be using Jaime again.

Jaime and I moved my stuff from a storage locker to my new apartment for a flat rate of $ 85! I called a few places less than a day in advance; Jaime gave me the lowest rate so I went with him.
We strapped everything down to the bed of his pickup and we were off. The operation was a bit ad-​hoc but Jaime is a pro and the whole operation took just an hour and a half. Everything was moved, nothing was broken, nothing was lost, it could not have gone better. Well, almost.
He did show up a half-​hour after we agreed, so if you’re on a very tight schedule you may consider other options… however Jaime is even more careful with my stuff than I am and easy to get along with, so I’d definitely call him again the next time I need to move.

Look, this guy is on time, inexpensive, reliable and professional. He treats your stuff with care. I cant say that for other moving people. why call other lame ass expensive moving people. This Jaime guy is pretty damn good at the right price.

Himay helped me move my bed and mattress last weekend from portola to downtown. He was patient, friendly and knew what he was talking about and was very affordable as well. I will hire him again when I need a mover.

Jaime was a total gentleman. I will absolutely call him next time i move.

I hired Jaime today to move a large wooden dining table to a Victorian house with quite a few tight spots. He is the most patient and careful mover I have ever met. I will hire him again when I need a mover.

I needed a freezer moved from Pleasanton to my garage in San Francisco. Jaime (pronounced Himay) was very professional with great communication. It was a cinch coordinating with him, and his fee is very reasonable. Since I was able to lend a hand with moving the freezer, and it was a two-​man job, this fit my needs perfectly.
He showed up exactly at the time we had arranged, and took a lot of care to prevent any damage to the freezer. He taped up the power cord, put plastic wrap around part of it, used shock-​absorbing materials to line the bed of his truck, and covered it with a tarp before tying it down. He then drove away carefully (I was driving behind him for a part of the way).
All-​in-​all, Jaime provided very good service at a reasonable rate. I will be calling him again.

A few months ago I had a new flat panel and soundsystem to get home. HOLY HOLY HOLY you know what! This man and his helper are an absolute must!!! Just amazing to work with! hands down will never use anyone else! If you dont call him… well I just cant help you LOL

Jaime is great! I’ve used him a couple of times for small moves, and both times him and his helper were very careful, friendly and professional. He returns calls quickly, and calls again before he gets to your house too. I’ve used other small movers, and decided that I’m just going to call Jaime from now on — he’s the best!

Jaime (pronounced «hi-​may») Palma helped me move office furniture from a commercial building in SF to a house in the Berkeley Hills. He was prompt, courteous, easy to work with, obviously had done this many times and had the best rates among the movers that I called. Thanks, Jaime!

This is my very first review. Normally, I have to be very impressed or really angry to share an experience, and I am SO happy that it is the former with Bay Area Small Moves.
I called Himay and left a message for him. He returned my call that day and we discussed the estimate for moving a sleeper sofa. To be honest, I was a little worried about calling this random stranger to move funriture into my home (I am a single female). However, Himay was professional, friendly, and even had a website I could check out which made me feel more secure.
As a student on a student budget, I called around to other people who posted on Craig’s List or on Unilocal about small moves, including «Andy» and «Man with a Van/​Ron». It came down to Himay and Ron in the end since they could both move on the day and time requested by my seller. Ron wanted to charge me $ 85 flat rate for 2 guys, truck, and transport for one sleeper sofa. **Since sleeper sofas are heavier, the rates tend to be higher for everyone** Himay charged me a flat rate of $ 80 (on his website it talks about a $ 45 flat rate + $ 10 more per flight of stairs — CALL Himay and explain your situation — he’ll give you a fair rate, often cheaper than if you added up all the stairs yourself).
At the last moment, the matching loveseat to my sleeper sofa became available the day before the scheduled move. Himay said he’d add on the new loveseat at NO EXTRA CHARGE. Ron/​Man with a Van said he’s have to add $ 30 more for a grand total of $ 115. There was no question — I went with Himay.
Himay arrived 15 minutes earlier than the appt. which was WONDERFUL as we scheduled the move during the last 30 minutes of the «ideal» time given by the seller. He was great to work with. He strapped everything done securely — nothing flew off (thank goodness, I was looking back every now and then to make sure :) He was VERY careful with my couches around corner and did not scratch or dent anything. I would definitely rec. him and his partner! I will call Himay first next time I find another Craig’s list purchase!

We bought a couch off craigslist. Now how to get it home?
Initially our only options were to pay $ 180 for a moving company that is used to moving entire households or we could have rented a uhaul which is pricey — we just don’t have friends with a truck.
So we braved it on craigslist and met Himay (Jaime)!
I called him same day for an 8pm pick up. I emailed him all the details. He met us promptly at our destination. He covered his truck in blankets and neatly tied our brand new couch down to his truck bed. He helped us move it up and down the stairs.
A successful craigslist transaction — woooooweee.
Couldn’t have done it without him.
He is very nice and easygoing. Great service.